The building was designed in the 1930s but was not completed until 1972
Plans to demolish a former monastery near Gloucester to make way for "luxury" houses have been unveiled.
Prinknash Abbey was opened in 1972 but has been empty since 2008 when the resident monks moved back to their previous home of St Peter's Grange - a 15th Century Grade I listed building.
The plans have been submitted to Stroud District Council.
A spokesman said the sale of the site would allow an existing farmhouse to be turned into a new retreat centre.
The building was designed in the 1930s and work on it began in 1939, but construction was delayed due to the outbreak of World War Two.
The Benedictine monks eventually moved into it from the nearby St Peter's Grange, which had been their home since 1928, in 1972.
The building has been empty since the monks moved out in 2008
But they moved out again in 2008, external after the building became too big and too expensive to maintain for the diminishing community, which now numbers just 12.
The abbey's bursar, Father Martin McLaughlin, said the sale to developer Edward Blake Ltd would release funds to convert an existing farmhouse in Prinknash Park into a retreat centre.
He said it would "breath new life" into the Prinknash community and the monastery would "once again play an active part in the spiritual life of the Catholic church".
Father McLaughlin added the amount of money the monastic community would receive from the sale was "not as much as people think".
Stained glass and religious items, such as altars, will be moved from the disused abbey and used in the new retreat centre, he said.
A spokesman for Edward Blake, based near Tetbury, confirmed the plans had been submitted to the council.
Previously it was announced that the building had been bought and would be turned into retirement flats.
The monks moved back into the nearby St Peter's Grange seven years ago
- Published30 August 2012
